Dispensing container for surgical sutures



A118. 1934- c. D. .LUKENS DISPENSING CONTAINER FOR SURGICAL SUTURESFiled Jan. 18, 1932 Patented Aug. 28, 1934 1,971,510 DISPENSING comma maSURGICAL screams Clarence 1).. Lukens, St. Louis, Mo.,.

Application January 18,,

race], "Serial no. email 8 Claims, (61.167 3)- This invention relates-toa dispersing contamer, and more particularly, to onefor dispersingsurgical sutures.

"These sutures are usually prepared and furcontaining a suitableantiseptic solution; The tubes also contain air so that they are buoyantin aliquidr In handling these sutures in ahospital, for instance, it isimportant that not only the sutures themselves be maintained in athoroughly antisepticcondition, but also that the glass tubes inwhichthey are contained be also maintained an antiseptic condition on tothe time when they are opened for use. It has been customary to storethese articles in glass jars containing, anantiseptic solution in whichthe suture tubes are-submerged. If a jar of this kind containsaconsiderable number of suture tubes, the tubesoocup-y a considerableportion of the volume of the jar and consequently thevolume occupied bythe. articles islarge as compared to the volume occupied by theantiseptic solution; Accordingly as articles are withdrawn the level ofthe solution the jar is depressed and eventually there is insufficientto cover the articles and there is danger "of the exposed portions be,coming infected;

One of the objects or, invention is, therefore, to provide a containeror bath for, articles of this type, such that the antiseptic solutionmay be contained therein in such a manner that as the articles areWithdrawn a sufficient amountof liquid will be held in reserve so thatthe liquid level will not fall low enough to expose. the articles.

It is,,o'f course, obvious that a sufiicient quantity oi liquid can beprovided by simply using, a very deep jar and keeping the articlessubmerged therein, The depth must/be sumcient so that when only onearticle is, left in the jar it will be covered by the liquid. With such,a container the articles often have atendency to hug the side walls ofthe container and it is difficult to pick them out for use. It will beunderstood that these containers are to be used, for instance, in anoperating room where a suture must be quickly available at an instantsnotice and every convenience in handling these articles enhances thesafety of the patientundergoing the operation.

Another object of this invention, therefore, is to provide such a bathor container which may be so operated thatthe articles are exposed forextraction a position spaced from the conta iner walls so that they maybe easily picked out. HA-nother object is to provide such a containerwith means to keepthe article in upright position so-that an articlewill float with its, upper end exposcdabove the surface of the liquid,

Another object is to provide. such a container withtmeans for keepingthe articlessubmerged but adapted to release the: articles when thecover of the container is removed sothat theymay be easily accessible.

H Further objects wiil appear from the following, description taken inconnection with the accomspenying, drawing, in which rl Figural is averticalsectional view of a device embodying this invention;

Figm'e 2 is a sectional detail view illustrating a floating article-withits end exposed for manipulotion; and t a t Y Figure 3 is aperspectiveview of the spacer used to keepthe articles upright in theliquid.

*Referring-nowto the drawing, 1 designates-generally a container oi, anysuitable type preferably of glass adapted to contain the articles andthe antiseptic solution in which they are immersed. The containerillustrated-is formed with two compartments; av lower,- compartment 2 ofa size adapted to accommodate the number of articles tobestoredand-ot adepth suflicient to contain liquid enough to submerge the articles.Above theoomparhnent 2 the container is formed with anzoutwamdlyprojecting portion '3- which may be ot'annular form so that the upperportion of the container provides a compartment 4 or increased lateralextent as compared with that of the compartment ,2. r

The horizontal dimensions of the compartment g are, madesificientlygreater than those of the compartment 2 so that thecompartment 4 is capable-oi containing anamount of liquid surficient tocompensate for that displaced by all the articles in thc compartment 2without causing the liquid level to drop below the upper rim oftheeompertment 2. r

In order to separate the articles into groups and also to maintain themin upright position a spacer is provided as illustrated in Figure 3.This spacer comprises. a central tube 5 which has attached thereto so asto'extend radially therefrom av series or vanes or' partitions 6.. Thisspacer is placed in the compartment 2 so that the partitions 6 subdividethev compartment 2 into a series of subcompartmentsor cells, eachadapted to contain a. number of the articles which are illustrated inthe suture tubes. 7., These cells are useful not only to maintain thearticles inv upright position, but so as to separate them so thatsutures of difierent sizes or kinds may be placed in different cells.

A suitable cover 8 may be provided for the compartment 4 and this ispreferably constructed so as to make a tight joint with the upper rim ofthe container in order to prevent undue evaporation of the liquidtherein. Secured in any suitable manner to the cover 8 is a stem 9extending downwardly into the container. Loosely mounted on the stem 9is a heavy plate 10 preferably perforated as indicated at 11. A head orbutton 12 may be provided at the lower end of the stem 9 so as to retainthe plate 10 on said stem. The plate moves loosely on the stem so thatit may adjust itself to its proper position. The plate 10 should beheavy enough to force all the articles contained in the compartment 2under theliquid so as to keep the same submerged.

In the use of this device the articles are placed in the compartment 2suitably divided, if desired, among the cells formed by the partitions6. While the articles 7 have a tendency to float, they are forced underthe liquid by the plate 10 when the cover 8 is put in place. The plate10 may be arranged to rest upon the offset 3, or any other suitablesupport at the upper rim of the compartserted their displacement willcause a rise in'the level of the liquid. The liquid so displacedwill'accumulate in the chamber 4 in which the rise in level will be less fora given quantity of displaced liquid then it would be in a compartmenthaving the dimensions of compartment 2. Accordingly there is only amoderate depth of liquid in the compartment 4 above the offset-3.

The container being supplied with articles and solution and the cover 8with its plate 10 being in place, when a suture is desired'it isonly'necessary to remove the cover 8 which carrieswith it the plate 10suspended on the stem 9. Removal of the plate 10 releases the articles'7 whose buoyancy causes them to rise in the liquid so that their upperends project above the level of the liquid as shown in Figure 2. It willbe noted that in this position, even though the articles may have atendency to hug the wall of the compartment 2, they will be spaced asubstantial distance from the wall of the compartment 4, and accordinglywill be easy to pick out. An article-havin been selected and removed,the cover is simply replaced. As the cover is replaced the plate .10forces the articles below the level of the liquid 'so that they willremain submerged until another is needed. In this way the articles maybe maintained in a thoroughly sanitary condition until required for use.I Y 1 7 It will be seen that this invention accomplishes its objects inproviding a bath for articles of this type, in which a considerablenumber of articles may be stored and'kept'submerged in an antisepticsolution. They may be separated into groups and they are maintained inupright position. The formof the compartment 4 provides excess liquidcapacity to take care of the liquid displaced from the compartment 2 bythe articles. The entire organization is such that the articles aremaintained in the desired condition and are quickly rendered availablefor use by simply lifting the cover from the container.It'will'beappreciated that this arrangement is such as to work a greatsaving of time in the handling of these articles, a-feature which is ofthe highest importance in suchplaces as'ioperating rooms where everysecond counts.

While this invention has been described as embodied in a unitary device,it will be understood that certain individual features orsub-combinations thereof, may be useful without reference to otherfeatures and that the employment of such individual features orsub-combinations is contemplated by this invention and within the scopeof the appended claims. It is obvious that various changes may be madein details-of construction, within the scope of the appended claims,without departing from the spirit of this invention; it is, therefore,to be understood, that this invention is not to be limited to thespecific details shown and or described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. An article bath, comprising, means providing a compartment adapted tocontain the articles immersed in a liquid, and means providing asecondcompartment above and of larger hori- Zont'al; area than the firstcompartment and in sealed communication therewith adapted to receive andhold rising liquid displaced from said first compartment by thearticles.

2. Anarticle bath, comprising, means providing a compartment adapted tocontain the articles immersed in a liquid, means providing a secondcompartment above and of larger horizontal area than the first and inpermanent communication therewith adapted to receive and hold risingliquid displaced fromsaid first compartment by the articles, and meansadapted to maintain the articles upright in said first compartment.

3. An article bath, comprising, a container having a compartment adaptedto contain the articles immersed in a liquid, means providing a secondcompartment of greater lateral extent than and above said firstcompartment, a cover for said container, a stem extending downwardlyfrom said cover, and a plate loosely mounted on said stem adapted torest on the wall of said first compartment.

ij An article bath, comprising, a container for the article having avertical wall the upper portion of which is offset outwardly asubstantial distance so as to provide a restrictedlower compartment andan expanded upper compartment adapted to receive and hold liquiddisplaced from said lower compartment, whereby an article floatinginsaid lower compartment will be held by the wall thereof in spacedrelation to the wall of said upper compartment.

5. An article bath, comprising, a container for its ids

the article having a vertical wall the upper portion of which is offsetoutwardly a substantial dis- 6. An article bath, comprising, a containerfor the article having a vertical wall the upper portion of which isoffset outwardly a substantial distance so as to provide a restrictedlower compartment and an expanded upper compartment adaptedto receiveand hold liquid displaced from said lower compartment, whereby anarticle floating in said lower compartment will be held by the wallthereof in spaced relation to the wall of said upper compartment," andmeans in' the upper pori tion of said lower compartment adapted toseparate the freely floating articles into groups.

'7. An article bath, comprising, a container for the article having avertical wall the upper portion of which is offset outwardly a'substantial distance so as to provide a restricted lower compartment andan expanded upper compartment adapted to receive and hold liquiddisplaced from said lower compartment, whereby an article floating insaid lower compartment will be held by the wall thereof in spacedrelation to the wall of said upper compartment, means in the upperportion CLARENCE D. LUKENS.

